After his man-of-the-match performance against AC Milan just days earlier, the Israeli international found himself under-fire from supporters as the team crashed to an embarrassing defeat against the Danish unknowns.

Ben-Haim performed well below par at left-back, although he was by no means the worst of the City defenders. That honour went to captain Richard Dunne, who was at fault for Midtjylland’s only goal, scored in the first half by Danny Olsen.

In fact, Ben-Haim was behind all City’s most effective attacks. His thoughtful passes from defence in the first 45 minutes gave the home side its best chance of levelling.

City twice hit the crossbar, through impressive youngster Daniel Sturridge and Martin Petrov, but for the most part they never really looked like scoring.

In the match programme – which featured Ben-Haim on the cover – City manager Mark Hughes was full of praise for the number 26.

He wrote: “Tal Ben-Haim has still only been with us for a couple of weeks but he has fitted in superbly . . .

“He has a point to prove after what must have been a frustrating year for him at Chelsea, but he has channelled all that into training and his performances so far.”

Hughes added: “He is a good talker. I felt we needed to be a touch more vocal at the back, and Tal has already showed that he likes to let everyone around him know what he thinks they should be doing.

“His international experience will be vital if we keep progressing in the UEFA Cup as well.”

It was a good night for the Israeli clubs in the competition.

Maccabi Netanya had a 1-1 home draw with Cherno More Varna, while Kiryat Shmona FC held Litex 0-0 in Bulgaria. Hapoel Tel Aviv drew 0-0 in Serbia with Vojvodina.

It will be quite a shock if three Israeli clubs find themselves in the first round proper, while Ben-Haim – one of the country’s top players – finds himself dumped out of the competition before it even starts.